February 25/26, 1943 - GEORGE HARRISON'S birthday is today, however, gossip and hearsay rocklore says that in 1992, Harrison was reported to have said, "I only learned recently after all these years that the date and time of my own birth have always been off by one calendar day and about a half hour on the clock." Does this mean all the records are wrong, and his birthday is actually yesterday, February 24? Or today, February 25? Regardless of whether or not it was today or yesterday, hats off to George Harrison - our world was made a better place when he was born and came into our lives. Here are three classic songs from gentle George; Bangladesh, My Sweet Lord, and All Things Must Pass.
1952 - COLE PORTER'S classic Kiss Me Kate became the very first musical choreography score to become copyrighted, so accordingly, dear reader, to celebrate, here is a live performance of the 1999 revival of the musical, taped in London in the theatre in which it was staged, and in front of a live audience.
1957 - BUDDY HOLLY and the Crickets recorded their first ever million-selling record today, and their first #1, That'll Be The Day. Check out this 54-year-old video promo of the song from the man who influenced the music world forever, and he did it in just 18 months before being killed in a plane crash aged just 22.
1965 - THE SEEKERS hit the top of British music charts today with their song, I'll Never Find Another You. The Australian folk-pop group was originally formed in 1962, and were the first Australian popular music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. Solo performers had done it, but not a group. let by Judith Durham on vocals, were seen as too pop for folk, and too folk for rock. For a time, though, the Seekers were popular around the world, eventually selling a massive 50 million records.
1989 - SIMPLE MINDS were at #1 on the UK singles chart with their song, Belfast Child, today, and timing out at six minutes and 39 seconds, it became the second-longest running #1 hit after The Beatles Hey Jude, which was more than seven minutes long.
1992 - LIFETIME GRAMMY ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS were given to a small number of music legends today, including the man who influenced everyone from Mick Jagger to Michael Jackson to Elvis Presley...the great 'soul man', James Brown; John Coltrane, too received an award, being the musician who helped found jazz fusion thus broke the shackles of jazz in the process; Jimi Hendrix has been called the greatest rock'n'roll guitar player of all time, and he, too was given an award. There is no available video of this event, so here is our own…firstly, Brown at the famous Apollo theatre at an event held in his honour, then…Coltrane performing his piece, Naima, in 1965, and finally a Jimi Hendrix tribute at the Brit Awards as performed by Steve Winwood, Mitch Mitchell and Slash.
1995 - FRANK SINATRA performed in front of 1200 select guests, tonight, at a private party on the closing night of the Frank Sinatra Desert Classic golf tournament. This was the final time Frank Sinatra sang before a live audience, and his closing song was The Best is Yet to Come.
1998 - BO DIDLEY and ROY ORBISON were both awarded lifetime Schievement Awards 14 years ago. Didley's sound and rhythms were ripped off by so, so many acts, including the Rolling Stones...that riff, that sound, those lyrics, his guitar...he was one of the founding fathers of rhythm in rock, and in the following tribute video he is introduced by James Brown. Then there was Roy Orbison - see if you can spot the stars, all paying musical back-up tribute to one of rock/pop's greatest song writers, with a voice to kill for. See if you can spot the stars in both concerts.
2009 - THE GODLIKE GENIUS AWARD, given by British music magazine NME, was won by The Cure tonight in 2009. Other winners of awards that evening included Oasis, Elbow, Kings of Leon, and the Killers. Here's a rare interview with the Cure's lead singer, Robert Smith, then an absolute killer acoustic version of one of the Cure's greatest ever hit songs.
1952 - COLE PORTER'S classic Kiss Me Kate became the very first musical choreography score to become copyrighted, so accordingly, dear reader, to celebrate, here is a live performance of the 1999 revival of the musical, taped in London in the theatre in which it was staged, and in front of a live audience.
1957 - BUDDY HOLLY and the Crickets recorded their first ever million-selling record today, and their first #1, That'll Be The Day. Check out this 54-year-old video promo of the song from the man who influenced the music world forever, and he did it in just 18 months before being killed in a plane crash aged just 22.
1965 - THE SEEKERS hit the top of British music charts today with their song, I'll Never Find Another You. The Australian folk-pop group was originally formed in 1962, and were the first Australian popular music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States. Solo performers had done it, but not a group. let by Judith Durham on vocals, were seen as too pop for folk, and too folk for rock. For a time, though, the Seekers were popular around the world, eventually selling a massive 50 million records.
1989 - SIMPLE MINDS were at #1 on the UK singles chart with their song, Belfast Child, today, and timing out at six minutes and 39 seconds, it became the second-longest running #1 hit after The Beatles Hey Jude, which was more than seven minutes long.
1992 - LIFETIME GRAMMY ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS were given to a small number of music legends today, including the man who influenced everyone from Mick Jagger to Michael Jackson to Elvis Presley...the great 'soul man', James Brown; John Coltrane, too received an award, being the musician who helped found jazz fusion thus broke the shackles of jazz in the process; Jimi Hendrix has been called the greatest rock'n'roll guitar player of all time, and he, too was given an award. There is no available video of this event, so here is our own…firstly, Brown at the famous Apollo theatre at an event held in his honour, then…Coltrane performing his piece, Naima, in 1965, and finally a Jimi Hendrix tribute at the Brit Awards as performed by Steve Winwood, Mitch Mitchell and Slash.
1995 - FRANK SINATRA performed in front of 1200 select guests, tonight, at a private party on the closing night of the Frank Sinatra Desert Classic golf tournament. This was the final time Frank Sinatra sang before a live audience, and his closing song was The Best is Yet to Come.
1998 - BO DIDLEY and ROY ORBISON were both awarded lifetime Schievement Awards 14 years ago. Didley's sound and rhythms were ripped off by so, so many acts, including the Rolling Stones...that riff, that sound, those lyrics, his guitar...he was one of the founding fathers of rhythm in rock, and in the following tribute video he is introduced by James Brown. Then there was Roy Orbison - see if you can spot the stars, all paying musical back-up tribute to one of rock/pop's greatest song writers, with a voice to kill for. See if you can spot the stars in both concerts.
2009 - THE GODLIKE GENIUS AWARD, given by British music magazine NME, was won by The Cure tonight in 2009. Other winners of awards that evening included Oasis, Elbow, Kings of Leon, and the Killers. Here's a rare interview with the Cure's lead singer, Robert Smith, then an absolute killer acoustic version of one of the Cure's greatest ever hit songs.
